Wind Energy Saving Consumers Money During Recent Cold Spell

[Irishbobcat]

I'll pray for you, Ricky.....maybe one day....

[Rick Rowlands]

Nope!  Damn reality keeps getting in my way.  I can never reach utopia.

[Irishbobcat]

Sorry to see that Ricky hasn't grown on this forum....same old Ricky.....he just doesn't see or get it.....

[Rick Rowlands]

Well I guess I'm a day late!

This is an interesting quote: "While Governor Kasich continues to allow Ohio to lag behind the country in promoting green energy".  This really says a lot about how far we as a nation have fallen.  So government now has to be the catalyst for anything and everything to happen?  We can no longer act on our own?  If MidContinent ISO thinks that wind is a viable low cost source of electricity then why do we need Governor Kasich's involvement?  MidContinent ISO can just erect windmills on their own!   But the reality is that since there is this tax credit out there distorting the free market, power producers will not act on their own.   

Business is business, and if wind power works the free market will promote it through the pricing structure. 

Another quote: "At its peak, wind power was generating enough energy across America's heartland for 15 million typical homes."  I would love to see the chart on this.  How long did that peak last?  Minutes?  Hours?  What was generating the power before and after the peak?  The big problem with wind is that the grid does not know when these "peaks" will occur, and have to make decisions assuming that they will not occur.  So when it happens whatever plant was carrying the load is still sitting there spinning away ready to pick up the load again a few minutes later when the peak is over. 

Hey, Obama said tonight that we are going to turn sunshine into liquid fuel!  So no worries!

[Youngstownshrimp]

Rick bet me two Beers that you would respond before he

[Irishbobcat]

Hour is up....you owe me a beer.....

[Youngstownshrimp]

Hi Dennis, I predict in an hour our very own Rick Rowlands will debunk this. We still love you though

[Irishbobcat]

While Governor Kasich continues to allow Ohio to lag behind the country in promoting green energy its been documented that the recent wind chill that has been delivering painfully cold temperatures for people in the Midwest and on the East allowed for wind energy to set new generation records for the two power pools that supply most of the Midwest. At its peak, wind power was generating enough energy across America's heartland for 15 million typical homes.

That power is not only coming when it's needed, but it is saving consumers money – just as it did at this time last year. Wind power saved electricity users in the Mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes states $1 billion during just two days of the "polar vortex" event on January 6-7, 2014, according to a recent white paper by the American Wind Energy Association.

Whenever a cold snap sends temperatures plummeting and Americans consumers reaching for their thermostats, electricity demand jumps just as the price of other fuels spikes, driving increases in electricity prices that are passed on to consumers.

Wind energy, on the other hand, has no need for fuel, and indeed is powered by the same winds driving record low temperatures. Its fixed low cost means utilities use it first, avoiding some of the need for the most expensive "peak power" and holding down the price charged to consumers for all energy on that day.

"Wind [is] one of the fuel choices that helps us manage congestion on the system and ultimately helps keep prices low for our and the end-use consumer." That's according to the MidContinent ISO (MISO), the independent grid operator for much of the Midwest, along with the Southwest Power Pool (SPP).

Further investments in wind power could produce even greater savings.

A May 2013 Synapse Energy Economics report found doubling the use of wind on the PJM power grid that supplies the Mid-Atlantic and Great Lake states would produce additional savings for consumers in the billions of dollars. With potential savings this high, the U.S. doesn't need to wait for another "polar vortex" or similar crisis to demonstrate the case for further investment in wind power.

A predictable, stable, and pro-growth tax policy remains a key factor in encouraging further expansion of the wind power industry. Last year's extension of the renewable energy production tax credit – effectively just for the last two weeks of December since it came so late in the year – is no way to run an energy policy, or grow an industry that has become a major success story for the U.S. economy.